Multi-player on-line games are becoming increasingly popular with the public. One such type of game is called an on-line role-playing game (RPG). Generally, a player in an RPG will assume the role of a fictional character called an avatar that lives in an imaginary world. During the game, the player controls the avatar to fight battles, search for treasure or weapons, or gain knowledge or experience. These actions or “quests” are usually governed by a system of formal rules and guidelines; however, players are typically free to improvise their actions within the rules. As a player successfully completes a quest, the player may be rewarded with points and is also permitted to progress through increasingly higher levels of the game.
One especially popular type of RPG is called a massively multi-player on-line role-playing game (MMORPG). MMORPGs, such as WORLD OF WARCRAFT, SECOND LIFE, and FINAL FANTASY, utilize the Internet to enable thousands of players to assume their own avatar in a constantly evolving virtual world. MMORPGs differ from other RPGs in several respects. For example, with some MMORPGs, the imaginary world in which the avatar exists is “persistent.” That is, the world continues to evolve regardless of whether anyone is logged in and actively playing the game. Additionally, while players may progress through the world as independent entities, MMORPGs usually require the players to form teams and cooperate to successfully complete quests or other actions.
Role-playing games, however, are not the only types of on-line games enjoying an increase in popularity. Other on-line games, such as WORLD IN CONFLICT, COUNTER STRIKE TEAM FORTRESS, and any of a variety of sports-related games are also popular with users. Such games offer players a chance to “own” or “manage” a sports team, join forces with other players to accomplish predetermined tasks, and/or to match their skills against other players to defeat other players and teams.
Although most players engage in on-line gaming activities from their own desktop or laptop computers, or from specialized gaming consoles such as the XBOX or the PLAYSTATION, the widespread availability of mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and laptop computers, has lead to an increasing demand to place on-line gaming applications on mobile devices. Playing multiplayer on-line games on mobile devices, however, introduces issues that are not present when playing games on desktop computers. For example, the user interfaces on most mobile devices have limited capabilities. This makes the task of inputting large amounts of data tedious. In addition, players using mobile devices move from location to location, and thus, typically join and leave a game more often than they would if they were seated at a desktop computer.
Players on a team can benefit from data and information gathered by other team members while playing the multi-player on-line game. By way of example, most MMORPGs require team members to communicate with each other so that each will know the other's skills, abilities, and strategies for completing a quest. This permits team members to continue a quest in the absence of other team members. The limited abilities of mobile devices make sharing such information difficult.